Number of special needs pupils almost doubled

In the school year 2007/’08, 65 thousand pupils attended schools for children with handicaps and/or disorders. The number has almost doubled relative to the school year 1995/’96. The majority of pupils attending special needs education are boys.

Sharp increase in secondary education

More than 28 thousand pupils attended secondary education in the school year 2007/’08 at schools providing education to children with special needs, nearly two and a half times as many as in the school year 1995/’96. The number of pupils with special needs in primary education grew by 55 percent to more than 36 thousand over the same period. 

On average, 25 in every thousand pupils in primary and secondary education in the school year 2007/’08 attended schools for pupils with special educational needs. In 1995/’96, the ratio was 14 in every thousand.

Special needs pupils by type of education

Over 14 thousand boys have severe behavioural problems

Since 2003/’04, schools providing education to children with mental and/or physical handicaps and disorders are subdivided into four clusters. In 2007/’08, nearly 28 thousand children attended schools for pupils suffering from serious disorders. The largest group in this cluster concerns boys with severe behavioural problems (more than 50 percent).

Another 27 thousand children attended schools for pupils with physical or mental deficiencies. With more than 39 percent, boys with severe learning difficulties constitute the largest group within this cluster.

Boys also constitute a distinct majority in schools for pupils with hearing and speech impediments. Over 60 percent of pupils in these schools suffer from severe speech impediments. The remainder are deaf or have hearing problems. Seven in ten children attending schools in this cluster are under the age of twelve. In each of the other clusters, the share is 40 percent. 

Special needs pupils by type of handicap or disorder, 2007/’08

Theo van Miltenburg